Hydrogen has numerous important advantages as a fuel. The energy released per pound is high when compared to conventional fuels and it is clean-burning. Moreover, it can be burned in a conventional spark-ignition, internal combustion engine.
There are, however, serious drawbacks to the use of hydrogen that have prevented its adoption as a common engine fuel. Among the most important of its drawbacks is its extreme volatility, creating an ever present danger of an accidental ignition and explosion. In addition, hydrogen must be stored at high pressures in heavy gauge tanks and its pressure varies widely with changes in temperature. To reduce the pressure of stored hydrogen to a level at which it can be introduced into the fuel delivery system of an internal combustion engine generally requires an elaborate arrangement of valves and heat exchangers.
Recognizing the advantages of hydrogen as a primary fuel, particularly in the case of motor vehicle power plants, there has been some experimentation to evaluate its practical utility as a fuel supplement. It has been found that when hydrogen is mixed with gasoline and air in the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine, it results in improved combustion. The advantages gained are believed to result from the ability of hydrogen to sustain combustion at lean mixtures, with reduced combustion temperatures. The result is substantially improved thermal efficiency and a marked reduction of noxious emissions.
The use of hydrogen as a fuel supplement, however, presents the same difficulties as its use as a primary fuel, although on a smaller scale. It has, therefore, been proposed to generate the hydrogen at the engine by electrolysis of water. Oxygen is also yielded by the electrolysis to further enhance combustion. While this arrangement has confirmed certain theoretical advantages of hydrogen supplementation, it has, apparently, not yielded a practical, workable system, as the arrangement has been known for some time but has not come into common use.
It is believed that a principal reason for the lack of practical workability of previously known hydrogen supplementation systems is that the hydrogen and oxygen gases tend to accumulate on the surfaces of the electrode plates by which the water is broken down. The accumulated gases reduce the effectiveness of the apparatus by temporarily preventing large portions of the electrode surfaces from interacting with the electrolyte. A cyclical or erratic yield of hydrogen and oxygen may result.
Another and perhaps more important problem is that the accumulation of the hydrogen and oxygen gases in the electrolysis chamber prevents the quality of such gases produced from being responsive to the instantaneous demand. In addition, the accumulation of these highly volatile gases presents a safety hazard since the accumulated gases would be released in the event of an impact, such as a collision of a vehicle in which the system is in use.
A still further problem associated with such electrolytic hydrogen supplementation systems is that sludge tends to accumulate in the chamber. The electrode surfaces may become coated and orifices may be clogged.
An objective of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved hydrogen supplementation system that overcomes or minimizes the above-mentioned disadvantages of previously known systems.